Whole country a Peace Zone after Northern liberation - President
Rohan MATHES
COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa asserts that his Government
would seek to establish ‘Peace Zones’ not only in the precincts of
sacred sites, but also in the whole country.
President Rajapaksa made this assertion when he presided and
addressed the ceremony at which financial aid amounting to Rupees five
million was symbolically handed over to religious dignitaries of 42
Temples, Kovils, Churches and Mosques, at the Presidential Secretariat
yesterday.
“Every citizen of this land should have the freedom and the liberty
to enjoy the right of religious worship, as per his conscience. The
terrorists grabbed this right from the people.
However, we are a Government which is fully committed and prepared to
make sacrifices and be committed to protect all faiths and their
associated sites of worship,” he said.
He pointed out that when the North is also liberated, the whole
country would be a ‘Peace Zone’, and the ‘Sacred Sites’ would become
‘Peace Zones’ within it. “We are obliged to protect our religious
devotion which we have sustained over the years,” he added.
The President pointed out that the various religious units and
ministries which were scattered in the past, were brought under one
ministry, with the objective of integrating all religious affairs under
one management and authority and averting conflicts of any nature.
“We need integration of our society and not division or
differentiation. We formulated diverse programmes such as ‘Mathata
Thitha’ with the objective of protecting our society. This project to
develop our sacred sites would undoubtedly serve to achieve this
objective,” he said.
President Rajapaksa said that despite the war, his Government had not
abandoned any mega development projects in the country, be it the
expressways or the Norochcholai Coal Power project or any other. “We
will not abandon the development of the religious sacred sites too,” he
added.
He was of the view that as a Buddhist, he learnt how to respect all
communities and faiths, and was eager to protect all places of religious
worship. He derived much happiness in doing so, he said. Sacred Sites
Development Minister Dinesh Goonewardena and his secretary P. Ramajugan
also expressed their sentiments at the ceremony. |